Tag: removal

#365daysofbiking Chips with that?

September 10th – I notice the Canal and River Trust have contractors out at the moment cutting back canalside tree and shrub overgrowth, which is a job that’s been ongoing locally most of the summer.

Here at Walsall Wood they’ve been quite ruthless in removing the lower beaches of trees and scrub over what is a very wide canal, so the growth would not have impeded the passage of boat traffic.

It has, however, removed cover for kingfishers, waterfowl and the mamals that live and hunt alone the bank. Periodically, piles of wood chips will be good for bugs I suppose.

Concerning, but I suppose it’s necessary.

April 29th – I made another call on my way home to check out the latest work on the heathland restoration on Brownhills Common between the Chester Road and The Parade, south of the Watling Street. Much local comment had taken of mass tree felling and carnage, so I was wary.

I needn’t have worried: The careful project continues to strip out most of the coniferous trees and saplings here, and standing upon a mound that was once a conifer plantation most of my view was now the varying greens of deciduous growth. Native saplings have been left, and the whole area opened up to the light.

Yes, there are tractor tracks on the main footpath, but other than that easily remedied damage, the work seems to be sensitive and in line with original plans.

You can already see the improvements in biodiversity and birdlife here, and that can only be great for the future of this wonderful heath.

March 22nd – There’s been a death locally. The victim will not be mourned, although being viciously cut down by a diamond blade. Cyclists, pushchair wranglers and normal-width people throughout the area who walk this way will know what I’m talking about.

The post that had for years pointlessly stopped even the narrowest bikes and people getting though the gap at the foot of Anglesey Basin without a struggle, has finally been cut down.

It served no purpose – access to motorbikes either side of it was always possible. It just existed as a royal pain in the arse, and I was hugely irritated that the metre high steel post filled with concrete survived the dam works.

Someone, somewhere has finally cut the bloody thing down. I’ve vowed to do so many a time, but never been quite motivated enough.

My thanks to the executioner, you have done the community a great service.

November 25th – A curious thing has happened at Anchor Bridge in Brownhills. There used to be a gas pipe running along the front of the bridge – it was cast iron, and painted black. When I was a kid, climbing it was  a challenge and a rite of passage. Yesterday, scaffold was erected at either end of the 300mm diameter pipe; today, it had been removed and the ends capped. I wonder why it’s become redundant?